Posts Tagged FTDI

If you have purchased a cheap programming cable for your radio from Amazon, eBay, or another dealer, you’ve probably run into an issue where the cable initially won’t work, and someone (perhaps the vendor) told you that you have to use an older driver to get it to work. What you have is a cable that uses a counterfeit chipset. The Prolific chips seem to be the most problematic, while FTDI chipsets work very well. This page on miklor.com offers some background information on this subject.

The Miklor Cables & Drivers page talks about this and offers the older Prolific drivers that work well with cables that feature those counterfeit Prolific chipsets. You will run into one of two problems while dealing with them, however.

Under Windows 8 and previous Windows versions, Windows will offer the newer, non-working driver through Windows update. It is sufficient to go in and block the update, as described here, but you may have to do that each time you plug the cable in to a different USB port.

Under Windows 10, it’s a whole different situation. Windows 10 will install all updates offered through Windows Update, and you have the option to defer upgrades, but not to block individual updates. Windows 10 will continue to install the updated driver, which will continue to cause your counterfeit chipset cable to stop functioning.

So, if you’re using the counterfeit chipset cable under Windows 10, do yourself a favor and get a genuine programming cable. You’ll save yourself a lot of headaches and frustration.

A good source for programming software and cables is RT Systems, as they offer both cables and software for radios they support. If you’re only interested in the cable, and you want to use it with the factory software or the open-source software Chirp, look for cables that mention using genuine FTDI chipsets. They aren’t hard to find, but they will cost a little more. For the Baofeng 2-pin models, this cable from Amazon works well. This cable should work for all Baofeng 2-pin cable compatible radios, such as the UV-5R (and variants), the BF-F8+ (and variants), UV-B5 and UB-B6, and UV-82 (and variants). This should also work for all 2-pin cable compatible radios from other manufacturers, as long as they use the same pin out.

You could also try replacing the chipset with a $3 adapter, as described here. A good eBay seller for that adapter is here. Many other people report success. but I tried it with a counterfeit cable for my Baofeng and couldn’t get it to work.